JGBs close mixed ahead of Q3 Tankan manufacturers’ index, 10-year JGB auction

The Japanese government bonds closed mixed Monday ahead of the country’s Tankan manufacturers’ index for the third quarter of this year, scheduled to be released today by 23:50GMT and the 10-year auction, due to be held on October 1 by 03:35GMT for further direction in the debt market.

At close, the yield on the benchmark 10-year JGB note, which moves inversely to its price, plunged 21-1/2 basis points to -0.216 percent, the yield on the long-term 30-year jumped 3 basis points to 0.350 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year hovered around -0.319 percent.

Crude oil prices continue sliding, with Brent closing at $61.91/bbl. Prices have now almost returned to the pre-drone attack price of $60.22/bbl, with the market seemingly downplaying the risk of the event as Saudi Arabia says production levels are nearly restored, OCBC Treasury Research reported.

With China away for its National Day holidays starting from Tuesday, investors may have to contend with a slight asymmetry in news flow although all eyes will be on any headline risks pertaining to upcoming Sino-US trade talks expected October 10-11, OCBC reported in a separate report.

"Near term, we retain a bearish bias on the EUR-USD while the likes of the USD-JPY and AUD-USD may continue to be range bound and reliant on headline risks, especially from the Sino-US front," the report further commented.

Meanwhile, the Nikkei 225 index closed tad -0.56 percent down at 21,755.84,